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Indians Indians Archive The B-List: 8/4-8/6

The B-List: 8/4-8/6

Written by Steve Buffum
 Steve Buffum
In the Monday edition of The B-List, Buff breaks down the weekend sweep at the hands of the Tigers for those of you who have the stomach to read it. He weighs in on Fausto, and who the next closer should be. He provides more of his trademark ongoing analysis of Cliff Lee and Paul Byrd. And he charts the progress of Choo and Marte. Just because the Indians suck does not mean this still isn't the best daily Tribe column on the web.
Waiter, hurry up with that lemon juice!  This paper cut is closing up!


1) A call for the end of the experiment

I have seen enough.  Fausto Carmona is a mid-late setup man in 2006.  This does not preclude him from starting in 2007 or closing in 2007 or buying a blimp and flying over college football games in 2007, but in 2006, no more closing.  Please.  I beg of you.  Mercy.

2) Like Cy Young in too many ways

Cy Young won a bazillion games in his career, setting a league mark that will never be approached.  He was a great pitcher for a long time, although it certainly helped that they played with Nerf (tm) balls back then.  He might have pitched forever, except in his last couple of years, he got old and slow and fat.  He once said, "If they'd have outlawed the bunt, I'd have pitched 'til I was 50."  (The quote is a paraphrase.)

C.C. Sabathia is a very fine pitcher.  His last outing was terrific, and this one was awfully good.  6 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings, 6 Ks, more than 2/3rds strikes, and just one unearned run.  On a Cy Young Memorial bunt fielding error.  I guess the pressure of having to match the mighty Wilfredo Ledezma got to him.

3) Great Moments in Managerial Head Scratching

Cliff Lee is a banana.  It has been proven time and again.  Five shutout innings is terrific, but once the wheels loosen in the sixth (a triple and two runs), and a couple of right-handers coming up (Guillen switches, but Monroe and Thames are righty), six is probably as much luck as you want to push.

Now, there are a couple of mitigating factors here.  Lee was under 80 pitches at the time, far from fatigued.  And he did get Rodriguez and Ordonez to ground out routinely to the right side to end the sixth.  Lee's day through six: 4 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 2 R.  That's a nice start.  And, of course, the bullpen is simply a scary, scary beast that must be hidden from small children.  I'm just thinking pure track record here: what percentage of Lee's runs are given up in his last "one more" inning?  Like 80%?

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